Moments in Time
by Lycoris Calantha
Summary: EdWin 100 Themes. 069. Not know. The last words she addressed to him for a long while were of the sort that escaped lips thoughtlessly, which if heard would make the speaker squirm uncomfortably because it was far too true to be comfortable.
1. 057 Haircut

Let's see how far I get! I'm giving the RoyAi one a try…

The point with the story title is that I'm not planning anything particularly long. Let's see...

**Hundred Themes EdWin - 057**

Haircut

(I liked how Ed tugged at Winry's hair lightly in the manga, it was just -cute-. But it was like there was a story.)

* * *

Winry usually kept her hair short as a child, but one day, something happened: a memory often revisited. One of childhood and innocence.

The sun shone brightly, filtering into the Rockbell house, seemingly in tune to the hustle and bustle of a brand new morning.

"Grandma?" Ten year old Winry Rockbell asked, sounding like she was in need of a favor.

"Yes, Winry?"

"Can you cut my hair again? It's getting long."

Her hair barely touched her shoulders.

Pinako knew that her granddaughter was hardly vain, and was curious.

"Why all of a sudden, Winry?"

"... Stupid Ed..." was what she received.

Delivered by her morose granddaughter.

Good grief.

"What?" 'Please, please tell me I'm hearing things,' Pinako begged silently. 'I thought it would be at least half a decade before I need to deal with this.'

"Ed was... pulling at my hair. Again. He's... mean."

'Safe.' Pinako smiled.

Winry pouts, deep in thought.

Winry blinked speculatively. "Hey, Grandma? Do you think Ed's jealous of my hair?"

Pinako coughed awkwardly. "What would make you say that?"

"He's always... staring at me. And then he reaches and pulls my hair."

"Did he grab your hair and jerk?"

"... No, Grandma, he was trying to run his fingers through, but when he pulls, his fingers get caught, and it's like my hair's being pulled out by the roots."

Pinako chuckles.

"Do you think..." Winry pauses, deliberating on her next words. "Do you think Ed wants to make his hair my shade of blonde?"

Pinako tries very hard to not choke.

"I mean... If he does, which I won't really get angry at... I mean, it's his hair... but... won't he look like me then?"

Pinako is taking deep, exaggerated breaths, hoping that it would be enough to keep her composure.

Winry blinks owlishly, turning to her grandmother for an answer.

"Well, how about we'll cut it a little shorter than usual, and maybe he'd realize something."

"He'd realize what?"

"You'll see," was the cryptic response, followed by an evil cackle.

Winry decided that there were some times where she didn't know if her grandma was fine anymore.

Like awhile ago, when she was talking, Grandma looked like she was having a fit.

* * *

Later, when Winry met the brothers, hair much shorter, she was surprised to see Ed's jaw drop open.

"... Winry?" he said, almost as if he couldn't believe it was her.

"What is it, Ed?" she asked nonchalantly.

She could act normal, like her mom said: Rockbell women are strong.

Rockbell women can kick butt.

_Yes._

"You look really pretty, Winry," Al said, kind eyes shining bright with innocence. "I think brother thinks so too, right?"

Ed's eyes narrowed. "No, you don't," he says before running off, not seeing the hurt welling up in her eyes.

"Brother!" Al scolds, about to go after him before Winry holds him back.

"It's alright, Al," she smiles.

It doesn't reach her eyes.

He looks at her and sighs.

"It's not alright, Winry," he complains. "And you know it."

* * *

Edward Elric sits in the shade of the old oak tree, arms tucked into his knees.

"Why... did I say that?"

* * *

Winry looks at the sky, looking at the purple streaked, red-gold rays of sunset bathing everything in a soft, luminous glow.

"Winry?" his voice was soft, but she recognized it.

"Ed?" she half-turned, facing him.

"I..." he hesitated, before clenching his fists and looking at the ground. "I'm... I'm sorry, okay? You didn't look ugly. You looked fine."

She waited patiently.

There was more to it.

"And..." he starts fidgeting, digging his toe into the ground. "I... I just thought that..." he takes in a deep breath, saying everything in a rush."... that you looked better when it was long!"

Winry stared, dumbfounded.

A compliment?

From Edward Elric?

"And... and I didn't mean to hurt you when I pulled at your hair, honest!"

Winry blinks.

Once.

Twice.

She pinches herself.

She isn't dreaming.

He smiles at her. "You have really pretty hair, Winry. You should grow it out more!"

She beams back.

* * *

"Winry, Winry." Pinako sighed, sweeping the floor. "He's not the only one who needs to realize that he cares for you." She laughed out loud. _'Not to mention that he seems to care about what you look...'_

"Grandma?" Winry slams the door open.

"Yes, dear?"

"I think..." she smiles broadly, straightening up. "I think I'll let my hair grow out from now on."

Pinako smiles secretively.

She could trust Ed with her granddaughter, she knew.


	2. 092 Kiss

Let's see how far I get

Let's see how far I get! I'm giving the RoyAi one a try… it should be out soon…

**Hundred Themes EdWin - 092**

Kiss

* * *

It was one of the times where they raced, running fast, chubby legs pumping in effort, sweat trickling down their faces, their backs and the sound of high-pitched giggling of manic children filled the air.

They were eight, Al was seven.

They collapsed into a heap under an old tree, the three blonde children who treated each other like family, even though only two of them were actually related.

The youngest laughed at his older brother and their friend.

They looked odd, hair mussed and sticking up at awkward angles. Twin expressions of mock fury on their faces.

"Al..." two voices echoed eeriely in unison

The youngest gulped nervously, scrabbling away from his companions turned somewhat-enemies.

"Brother," he whimpered pitifully. "Winry..."

The two mentioned looked like pure evil.

Their heads turned towards each other in sync and with a slight nod, both lunged, cackling sadistically and attacking Alphonse' sides.

He squealed, giggling madly, attempting to fend off his attackers and failing miserably.

Soon, all of them were laughing.

"Surrender, Al!" his brother said, chuckling, poking a finger into his brother's side.

"I already did!" the youngest wailed, feebly bringing up his hand to stop the assault on his person. "Brotheeer!"

"You can stop now, Ed," their female companion said, cheeks flushed from laughter.

He stopped. They smiled for a moment, basking in the victory, not noticing Al's mischievous smile and how he closed his eyes lightly and evened his breathing.

"Yeah... Hey, Al?" the amber-eyed boy looked at his younger brother's face.

"He's asleep," Winry observed. "Did he laugh himself that way?"

"Maybe?"

The two children shifted positions, ending up side-by-side, with their backs against the weathered wood of the oak tree and Al sprawled against Ed's side.

"Hey, Winry?" Ed started, staring at the dappled sunlight filtering through the green boughs.

Al shifts slightly.

"Hm?" she smiled softly, looking at him.

"We're going to grow up soon, right?"

"Of course! We do every single day!"

"Well, are we going to be parents someday, too?" he asks, a little tentatively.

"Sure, I guess so," she trailed off, unsure.

Al curled up just a little tighter.

"And get kids?" he asks, looking greener by the moment.

"... I guess it depends Ed, why the sudden interest?"

"Winry," he says, sounding like he learned something he'd rather not, and was confirming with someone else, hoping what he learned was false. "Where do babies come from?"

At this, Winry gives him a rather odd look, Al seems to have coughed in his sleep, and then Winry clears her throat and explains the basics of the reproductive system.

Then she asks him what the hell that was about and Ed replies that it was in some anatomy book he found in the middle of the alchemy tomes he and Al pore through.

Edward cocks his head to the side in deep thought. "So," he says softly, deliberately. "Why do people kiss?"

"I think it's an expression of affection."

"Like parents to children?" he asks.

"Yeah."

"But it's different when your parents kiss, right?"

"Um..."

"And when those weird teenagers in town do, right?"

"They kiss each other on the lips?"

Ed nods, looking pale green.

"Um... I guess... if they do that, they get married, like the people who kiss in weddings?"

"The married people?" he says, his voice trembles.

Winy nods, to his horrification. She grins. "Don't worry Ed, not everyone does that."

"Really?"

She nods decisively. "And I, for one, won't kiss a boy. Ever."

His eyes burn with resolve. "Me neither. Never, for as long as I live!"

She laughs, a high, clear sound that shows her amusement. "That would be something I'd like to see, though."

* * *

"... And look at us now," Ed smiled, looking at his wife.

She smiled at him, sapphire blue eyes twinkling with laughter.

"You better not have kissed a boy, Edward Elric!"

Leaning forward until his lips were scant millimeters from her ear, he grinned. "Wouldn't dream of it!"

And then he landed a kiss on her lips.

* * *

"Brother? Winry?" Al asked, having wakened from his fake slumber. "I want to know where babies come from."

Ed and Winry looked at him blankly.

"Are you going to have some next time? I want to watch!"

Ed and Winry looked at him in terror, cheeks tinged red.

Al smiled and decided that payback was sweet.


	3. 053 Outcome

Let's see how far I get...

**Hundred Themes EdWin - 053**

Outcome (of fighting)

* * *

_Edward Elric and Alphonse Elric were prone to do what little children who happened to be siblings do._

_Squabble over the oddest, most useless things._

_They used to be small things, like snacks and food and drawing... But this?_

_This was too much._

_And Winry Rockbell is very, very, pissed._

_'Sure,' she huffs angrily. 'Those two were siblings, and therefore, would fight.'_

_But to fight over who would marry her?_

_Get real._

_So, she had dumped Al in the nicest way she knew..._

_(What the hell, she was nine. And Al was eight.)_

_And then, when she left Al alone for a while... (All known references to recently dumped people had them sulking and brooding. But that was more Ed than Al. Besides, it wasn't like she read those sappy novels, right? Right, she thought decisively, and she closed the topic in her mind.)_

_... Right. After she left Al alone for a while, she found Ed._

_He was in a suitable position to be spying on them. He also looked vaguely smug at his brother's rejection_

_Her voice rose to a fearsome octave, making him shudder in fear and attempt to scramble to someplace safe. "WHAT THE HELL, EDWARD ELRIC!?"_

_Ed took that as a clue to run away and hide._

_Smart boy._

_Winry sprinted after him, her pink sundress fluttering in contrast with her angry stomps, her rapid, slightly jerky movements._

_"EDWARD! WHERE ARE YOU? I WILL FIND YOU EVENTUALLY, YOU KNOW, AND IT WON'T BE A PRETTY SIGHT!"_

_Ed wailed for his mommy, giving an indignant shriek and toppling over to the ground when she clobbered him with one of her slippers._

_"I got you," she smirked triumphantly._

_He grumbled unintelligibly. Which was probably a good thing in this case, because Ed knew just how profound Winry's collection of profanity and insult was._

_Winry smiled. "Why did you do that, Ed?" she sat on his back to ensure that he couldn't escape._

_"You... you're heavy..." he wheezed._

_Not a good answer, Winry whacked the hapless lad over the head and bounced on him._

_"Oof..." said Ed, and declined to comment._

* * *

"Why was it that you were happy over Al's misery, -dear-." Winry smiled, tucking a strand of hair behind the shell of her ear. She was much older now, almost twenty-three.

"I- uh..." Edward Elric stumbled over words before trying to escape, flailing awkwardly and scrabbling towards anything but his fiancée.

He failed miserably, mostly because of Winry's iron grip on his flesh arm. "Aww... Lemme go!"

She smiled serenely. "We're getting married tomorrow, Ed, you could tell me now, right?"

"No!" he screamed, before he proceeded to continue flailing.

Her facial expression didn't change, but he could taste the menace in her tone.

* * *

_Little Winry tapped her foot against Ed's head. Needless to say, the boy was uncomfortable._

_"Why did you do it?" she asked._

_The little boy remained sullenly silent._

_Winry smiled serenely. "I'll go tell Al I'll marry him then."_

_"What?!" Ed flailed even more under her weight. "You can't!"_

_She cocked her head to the side. "Why not?"_

* * *

Al smiled into the microphone at the reception. "My brother and Winry have gone though a lot. It wasn't pretty... It was slightly, er, traumatizing for others involved, but no one can deny that brother and Winry are a formidable couple."

The rousing 'Yes' of the members of the military gave the wary, normal members of the community the idea that this was a very scary couple that was going to terrorize them and that they should go head for the hills now, you know, and finish that bomb shelter.

Winry smiled amicably from the head table. Ed winced as she crushed his flesh arm. People wondered whether they would survive the evening.

"Tell me," she said, her voice an insistent whisper.

"No."

"You promised..."

* * *

_"Why not?" she repeated, tilting her head slightly._

_"Because..." he mumbled the next words, his voice progressively growing softer until she couldn't hear. "Because I didn't want you to end up with him. Not him of all people."_

_"Why?" it was a simple word, but it felt like baring his soul._

_Edward Elric, aged nine. Confessing. He turned away. "I don't want to tell you yet."_

_"When I get married, if ever, then?" she asked._

_He nodded. If that was the case, it wouldn't matter anymore, the strange emotions he always felt._

* * *

"Not yet," he responded, looking defeated. "Not now, later."

Winry gave a victorious smile, but couldn't help but prod. "Yes, now."

"No."

* * *

They were in their new house later that night.

"Edward?" she asked, her voice piercing.

"I didn't want you to end up with him. Not him of all people," he said softly, repeating the words he told her over a decade ago. "Not with Al, my brother... Because if it happened that way, then I'd just remember the past and regret because that could've been me."

"You thought about this when you were nine." Winry stated flatly. She looked like she was blushing,though.

"I was trying to find out what I was thinking then, because, for so many years, I didn't know why I always thought 'Not him' whenever it was about who you will marry. I wanted... I wanted it to be me, but if it wasn't, it hurts more for it to be Al."

Winry smiled. "I love you, Ed. Well, sure, I love Al too... but you love him too, right? But I love you, I really do. Um... Er... Jeez, I married you, right?"

He smiles. "I love you too," he whispers against her hair. "I love you."

She threads her fingers together with his, twining them together tight.


	4. 023 Waiting

Let's see how far I get... (Might I advertise the RoyAi one?)

**Hundred Themes EdWin - 023**

Waiting

* * *

Edward was waiting, and he felt sick.

Is this what Winry felt when she was waiting, all those years ago?

It had not been the first time he spent hours acting like a chicken with it's head cut off over something like a baby.

But no, Winry was now in the cesarean section. His wife was now in the freaking cesarean section.

Which meant that he was stuck here, outside the operating room, while she was happily knocked out.

With knives cutting through her skin, delivering the baby.

... It was kinda creepy.

Birthing by cesarean section was a relatively new process... Something could go wrong...

Do not go there, he thought firmly. Winry is going to be fine, mostly because she is freaking strong. And she kicks butt.

... She was getting incisions.

On her belly.

To get the baby who had been making them go through _shit_ for nine months out.

Edward furrowed his brows, Winry would feel that in the morning.

He was going to feel this trauma in the morning.

Hell, he was feeling the trauma right now.

A doctor exited the room. "Are you Mr. Elric?"

He nodded once and followed to doctor into the room.

The first thing he saw was Winry's sleeping face. She was so still, so peaceful, that he thought it was the worst.

He was hyperventilating on the floor by the time his brother arrived.

"Brother?" Alphonse Elric had listened to his brother's useless babblings enough. He looked at the frazzled nurse. "Please sedate him..."

The nurse was only too happy to comply.

* * *

It was odd, Winry thought. When she woke up, she thought there would be noise. Maybe Ed frantically inquiring about her.

She was startled, not by the odd quiet of the hospital, well, that too, but mostly because Ed was so quiet.

So when she turned to her right and saw her husband sprawled unconscious, a line of drool running down the corner of his mouth, she was mildly surprised.

"Winry, you're awake!" the brother of the other half of her heart entered the room, smiling. "You slept a while..."

"Al," she started unsurely. "Why is Ed unconscious here?"

"Because Brother was babbling like an idiot and generally making a nuisance of himself. We had to put him down--"

"PUT HIM DOWN?!" Winry's voice was at a dangerous level.

"Temporarily! We had to sedate him..." Al said, defensive.

Ed sighed, a breathy murmur. Almost awake.

Winry sighed too. "Don't scare me, Al..."

He quirked an eyebrow. "Aren't you forgetting something, Winry?"

She looked at him. "I feel slightly sick from the drugs," she informed him. "Otherwise..." she trailed off, eyes widening. "MY BABY!"

Al chuckled as Ed stirred. "I almost thought you'd forgotten."

"Baby? What baby?!" Ed shrieked, waking up completely, flailing off the bed and landing on the floor.

Al rolled his eyes as he left the room for a moment.

"So..." Winry started, looking at her bed sheets.

Ed sighed. "I panicked, okay?" He was embarrassed, she could tell.

She laughed. "Al had to havw the nurses sedate you."

"I swear he enjoyed it," he mumbled.

"No Brother, it was necessary," Al said, peering into the room.

Ed looked properly abashed, at least.

Grinning, the younger Elric walked into the room, followed by a smiling nurse, holding a a bundle of cloth.

The bundle wailed. Winry smiled, looking beatific.

She looked like a mother, Ed thought wonderingly. He was startled out of his thoughts, however, by the nurse's announcement.

"Congratulations," she smiled, handing Winry the bundle. "You have a healthy baby boy."

Winry cradled the baby close, as Ed peeked. "My baby, my baby..." she murmured. Winry's eyes watered as she looked at the chubby arms, the tufts of flaxen yellow hair and bright gold eyes. He was beautiful little child. He'd stopped crying, too, which was definitely a plus.

Ed looked at his wife and his new son. If this was the reward of waiting, then, maybe it isn't such a bad thing after all.

Al smiled at the picture of the happy family.

It was perfect.


	5. 098 I'm Home

**Hundred Themes EdWin - 098**

'I'm home'

(This first distinctly anime-verse one I wrote.)

* * *

The next time Ed and Al returned, Winry was waiting.

Winry was now well known for her automail, sleek, light, compact and durable. She was twenty, and she was still waiting.

Two years, she knew, was a very long time. Especially if before that, you'd been waiting for the two to get back safe.

And it hurt, waiting.

Mostly because Ed was reckless and imagining what he'd be doing, battering around his automail, (her precious, precious masterpieces,) and the damage he does to his own body (she sees the scars), made her cringe and pray and wish.

Because automail, unlike him, was replacable.

Automail was one of her lifelong loves. She remembered watching Granny working on automail for as long as she could. She loved the sheen of metal as a child just like she loved her two best friends in the entire world. Actually, when she met the Elric brothers, she was two. Al was one. Ed... Ed was already learning to read, freaking prodigy.

Of course, they were so much more innocent back then.

I love you, I love you, I love you...

She'd tell him if he'd be more careful, less reckless...

Not that it would do any good if she told him, and so she kept it to herself. He probably wouldn't take it seriously, she thought, not knowing that he really would have taken it seriously and that he loved her back.

So she waited, and they did, eventually, come back.

The next time Ed and Al returned, Winry had thrown a wrench that had enough force to make up for all he'd missed in his absence.

Unfortunately for her, he'd caught it.

'How dare he!'

Unfortunately for_ him_, he'd underestimated the force and was reeling, falling backwards into the ground. She'd smirked, striding towards him, her hair streaming behind her.

"You..." she had hissed, tackling him and grabbing at his collar. "You didn't think to find a way to contact me, to let me know if the two of you were still alive, or if you broke your automail or... or..." she had trailed off then, opening her mouth wordlessly, tears trailing down her cheeks, dripping onto Ed's clothes.

He looked awkward, trying to comfort his childhood friend who was pinning him down on the ground. And ow, his hand was sore. Winry could seriously throw a mean wrench.

Al just watched. And laughed.

Winry gave him a watery smile, wiping her tears with the back of her hand. "Welcome back."

Ed grinned at her. "I'm home."

Al beamed. "It's good to be back home. Right, Brother? Winry?"

Home. Home was where Winry was, to support and guide and pull them back together. To bully and do the best she could for them.

Home was where the person he loved was.

It was great to be home.


	6. 012 Good Luck Charm

**Hundred Themes EdWin - 012**

_Good Luck Charm_

* * *

Winry considered her wrench good luck.

It stemmed from the fact that Ed always came home in spite of it... er... because of it.

No matter how battered and bruised he was, he always got home. And she did consider that her home was his and that his home would be wherever she was. Whenever they met again.

She didn't quite remember when she got her first wrench. But she did remember the first time she threw a wrench at him.

It wasn't hers, though. It was Granny's.

She had been six.

She'd thrown it at his head since he'd teased her about being such a girl.

He'd passed out from the hit, and never made a comment about that ever since.

* * *

"Why do you love that wrench so much, Winry?" Ed asked one day.

He was sixteen, and it was one of his errant visits to Resembool to fix his automail that he had trashed for the nth time.

She tilts her head slightly as she put a screwdriver down and picked up a bolt. "I don't really want to tell, Ed..."

"Why not?" he flinched as her fingers brushed a particularly tender spot.

"Because... Because it's private, okay?" Because it's childish and you'll laugh.

"I won't laugh, Winry, you know me." She hadn't realized she'd spoken her last thought out loud. She was aware, however, that Ed was likely to laugh no matter what he promised otherwise.

So Winry just giggles and twists the bolt on viciously as she speaks. "Right, Ed. Right."

* * *

"Tell me, please..." he begged that night over dinner. He hated mysteries, and innocent questions that turned into them annoyed him all the more.

She refused to speak, merely spooning some more soup into her mouth.

* * *

When Winry woke up at night, there was usually something wrong. So when she blinked her eyes open blearily, she expected something catastrophic.

Edward Elric leaning over her was the least she'd expected.

Shrieking, she groped for the wrench she never slept without and flung it at him. Howling, the elder Elric brotherjumped back.

"Ow! Winry, that hurt!"

Her reply was another long scream that had Ed wincing as he clapped cupped palms over his ears.

"Winry!" Al cried, barging into the room to be met with the sight of Ed looking pained and Winry shrieking.

Both teens were disheveled and Winry was groping around for an extra wrench.

Al raised an eyebrow. At least, he would have if he wasn't a soul bonded to a suit of armor. "Brother, you know, if Granny Pinako saw you, she'd think you were--"

"ARE YOU TRYING TO MOLEST MY GRANDDAUGHTER, EDWARD ELRIC?"

"Too late," Al sighed.

Ed leveled him a look. "You think?"

Winry gave a terrified chuckle. It sounded too high in pitch. Seeming to regain herself after seeing her intimidating, diminutive grandmother, she raised her wrench.

"OUT! OUT, ESPECIALLY YOU, ED, AND STAY OUT 'CAUSE I HAVE TO SLEEP!" and she flung the wrench. It hit Ed on the forehead.

"Ow!" he hollered.

"YOU DESERVE MORE THAN THAT. AND I'M GOING TO SHOW YOU WHAT YOU DESERVE IF YOU DON'T LEAVE IN THREE SECONDS!"

Ed winced. "Hey..." Pinako left.

Her eyes narrowed. "One." Al left.

"Winry," he tried.

"Two."

"Alright, alright, I'm out," he huffed and left.

"... Stupid Ed," she whispered, before lying down and going back to sleep.


	7. 026 A Suddenly Remembered Instant

**Hundred Themes EdWin – 026**

A suddenly remembered instant

CoS-verse, I guess...

* * *

He'd forgotten it ever happened, actually, he mused. Not until one night after Noah had met them, the night where she read his mind in his sleep, not that he knew. When he woke up, he remembered Winry.

Well, he always remembered Winry. It was kind of hard to forget your first and only mechanic. Especially if she was also a childhood friend.

Even more so if you'd loved her.

Loves, he amended.

He still loves her, though he'd probably get locked up somewhere for talking about a girl in some alternate universe.

But this was different. He had been afraid of forgetting everyone, forgetting all the people on the other side of the Gate. He'd been afraid of forgetting Granny Pinako and Den and Sciezca and and Havoc and Hawkeye and Fuery and Breda and Mustang and Armstrong, however scary he was.

But he was most afraid of forgetting Winry, for all the times their lives had been shaken, for all the times he tried to protect her, and for all the times she has saved him.

That night, he remembered her with odd clarity. The sound of her voice, the words she spoke. The way her eyes flashed, the way she looked at him, concerned. The way her fingers danced lightly along the flesh exposed near his collarbone when she was inspecting his automail arm.

It was a regular maintenance, except there was something at the end he didn't quite remember, but seemed such a part of it that it had to be real.

He had dozed off, tired of the day, and of watching Winry with her tinkering on his limbs.

She had been rather obsessive, and he was starting to think she'd made a mistake in the past and wasn't telling him, but he pushed the thought aside.

Winry had been humming softly, a soft tune that did not help him keep his awareness. It was a pretty song, soothing and somewhat familiar.

And it was calm.

She stopped. "Alright, I'm done," she informed him cheerily, frowning when he didn't respond.

She looked at him closely, noticing how he was so tired, weary from all his traveling. She sighed, gathering up her tools and putting them away.

"Ed," she whispered softly. "You try too much, more than you can take alone." Opening a closet door, she picked a blanket from a stack and draped it over him. She leaned forward, tucking him in comfortably.

Dipping forward, Winry smoothed blond hair from his face. "Ed, I..." She was a breath from kissing him...

Ed jerked awake, and he moaned irritably. "Winry..."

Winry immediately flushed scarlet. "You were awake?"

"No, I was resting my eyes. Then I think I ended up taking a nap."

Instead of scolding him like Edward expected her to, she calmed down. Odd. "I finished your maintenance. Take care of yourself better, okay?"

"I will."

"... After all, you are my best customer!" Winry grinned unconvincingly. Seeming to focus, she glared at him. "You break my precious works of art one more time before its expiration date and I break you into little pieces. Got it, Ed?"

"When does it expire, then?"

Her face softened into a smile. "It expires when both of you get your bodies back."

* * *

When Edward woke up, he remembered the almost-kiss and wished he had stayed still a while longer.


	8. 093 A Place to Return to

Hundred Themes EdWin – 093

* * *

**A place to return to**

When Ed and Al left, they burnt their house.

It was terribly impractical to Winry, but she supposed that there were bad memories that were best forgotten.

But she supposed it was funny when Granny was reminiscing and Holhenheim entered all of a sudden, saying his house was gone.

She thought that it must feel odd to no longer have a home, but then she realized that they always did, in each other, and in her. With her. Wherever they were, they had a home. Wherever she was.

She didn't know how much it meant to Ed.

Home used to be in Resembool. Now, home was wherever Winry was. In Rush Valley, or wherever else she might be.

And he loved her so, so much, though he wouldn't tell her. It would have only caused problems. He had no intention of leaving Winry with all that. It would have been cruel. And he couldn't be cruel, not to her.

Winry lived with the fact that her two friends were reckless fools going out to have some adventure or another.

_But at least..._ She smiled at the thought. _At least they had a place to return to, with Ed grinning and Al smiling._

Because for all their adventures, they needed a place to return to, a place they can call 'home'.

That was what she was; a constant for the whirlwind of their lives.

That's what she liked to think, anyways. Winry sighed.

She seemed to be almost as flighty as them sometimes, jumping at the opportunity to help.

Nevertheless, she was their home, sort of, and if it involved them freeloading at one point of another...

"Ed!" she said, grinning with the feral light in her eyes that was associated with warfare. "There's this awesome new supplier, and can you believe their new alloy... it's totally innovative and you're going to buy me some, riiight?" she asked, her phrasing a question but in a tone that brooked no argument.

_Home... _

Home used to be in their house in Resembool.

Now home was with Winry, and the familiar aroma of their mother's cooking was replaced by the scent of apple pie, and the clean smell of their home - citusy clean - was replaced with the smell of clean sweat and the grease Winry used.


	9. 061 Intuition

**Hundred Themes EdWin - 061**

Intuition

When Ed cried, Winry knew.

It wasn't the odd burst-into-tears crying for no good reason when he cried.

It didn't make people around her think she was PMS-ing or channeling her inner 'grouchy' Ed™.

It was a quiet sort of empathy that had her lying awake in bed at night, staring at the ceiling. Hoping that Ed was fine. Hoping that Al was fine, and hoping Ed wasn't too reckless with her baby.

Who was she kidding? He was always reckless. That was why he had automail in the first place. And why he went through her models like cheap scrap metal.

But whatever the case, Winry knew when Ed cried, and she felt for him. She respected his need to be alone, to deal with his problems, but she could help him, even if it's just a little.

So now she plans of apple pie, knowing that someday they'll be happy and together with Al in his real body and with Ed grinning and she will be laughing and happy and crying tears of joy.

But she hopes he's fine, and she knows he'll do his best, and he'd do whatever he can to came back home safe to her.

* * *

He was crying again.

It was night, and Winry lay awake, knowing that somewhere, Ed was crying in bed. It was odd to feel that he was crying when he wasn't anywhere close, but she learned to cope.

Humming a soft lullaby, she stared at the ceiling. She immersed herself in the soft, soothing tune.

_Why was he crying now?_ She always found herself wondering.

He promised her that the next time she'd cry, it would be tears of joy.

But Edward trying, trying so hard for his beliefs, Edward suffering and bleeding and crying, it was almost too much sometimes. She was quivering on her bed, holding her tears and biting her lip till it bled some nights.

But she succeeded. She had yet to cry.

And every new morning, she gazed at the sky, hoping that Ed would succeed soon and she would finally cry tears of joy.


	10. 040 EgoismSelfishness

**Hundred Themes EdWin - 040**

Egoism/selfishness

* * *

Edward Elric was a great many things, and selfish was one of them.

He also happened to have an extremely large ego, a surprisingly startling contrast to his height, but he was selfish, too.

He didn't want to put Winry in danger.

And pigs could fly, he would think sometimes, for all the others will care. He wanted to grow taller, and it wasn't happening, (not as fast as he'd wish, at least.) No one wanted to die, yet it happened.

That was the way it was, and wanting things to happen, or wanting things to not happen was nothing. Nothing at all.

Winry might be in danger.

She would be in danger, maybe because of him.

But he couldn't help and be selfish and hope it won't happen all the same.

Winry was to be protected, not because she was weak (She wasn't; she was infinitely strong and he knew it well), but because she was important.

That was why there were casualties sometimes, namely Ed's arm and leg.

Ed did it anyways, because he had someone to protect. That was why he did all this, because he was still selfish, Alphonse Elric thought ruefully. But then again, Winry was selfish too.

This would hasten the coming of the apocalypse.

* * *

Alphonse Elric would have winced if he had a body. His brother and Winry were screaming up a distinct storm.

He could feel the very walls of the house vibrate, could see Winry's trembling of rage, could see how both of them yelled at the other.

It was a ritual, and Winry was the one tossing in the physical abuse, Ed not even lifting a finger to stop her, just sullen.

Once, Al noticed that both their eyes shone slightly with unshed tears. He realized that, maybe, this was how they made sure the other was fine.

They were selfish like that, he thought. But he understood.

Each moment she hit him, he was strong enough to whine, to protest her calling him short. Each moment she hit him, she was strong enough to scream at him, to call up past grievances and to charge him obscene amounts of money.

They were just like that, possibly due to their pride that prevented them from being normal. It was because they were selfish like that, but they somehow...

Somehow... they sort of understood each other. Winry cared, Ed cared, that was all that mattered.

Al smiled inwardly. His brother and Winry could, after all, be odd that way, but it was their love.


	11. 004 Dog

Hundred Themes EdWin - 004

**Dog**

**

* * *

  
**

I, Edward Elric, am used to being glomped by dogs. Technically speaking, it is more of an assault on my person that happens to remind me of how short I am.

I don't enjoy being subjected to such.

It was like a well-meant tackle. It may have had good intentions, but I'm not going to thank the canine for the grass stains on my pants.

In fact, the first dog I was ever glomped by was actually a puppy. The puppy's name was Den.

I know what you're thinking. You're thinking, 'Hey, Winry's dog's name is Den.'

And you're right.

Winry's dog's name is Den, and when she was a puppy and adorable and all that, she was the first dog ever to tackle me. I forgot why, but me, Al and Winry were running around. Then again, we were kids and we didn't need a reason to run around.

Whatever the case, we were all running around when Winry's parents called her, huge smiles on their faces.

Al and I followed her, all three of us were really curious.

* * *

The puppy was cute. Adorable. She had these huge puppy-dog eyes that the guy who invented the term 'puppy-dog eyes' must have succumbed to.

She was really small -- she could fit snugly in Winry's hands. We all peered over her. The cute doggie in Winry's care. She snuggled right up to her, and Winry was cooing over her.

She looked around, looked me in the eye -- I swear that all those dogs look at me the same way just before that fateful moment. Some people call it a considering look, and I call it 'the look that tells me that the dog will glomp me in three-two--'

What happens to 'one'? I've never gotten there. The dogs always jump me before I get to it.

Anyways, Den looked me in the eye, seemed to coil her little ball-of-fur body, and then... she sprang. I fell to the ground face-up, Den safely on top of my stomach.

It wouldn't have been as bad as it had actually turned out if Den hadn't decided to choose that moment to empty her bladder.

Winry was lucky Den had glomped me, I suppose.

Dog pee is extremely unpleasant to get soaked in.

* * *

Years later, when she got into a bad accident and got automail -- that was horrible. I heard her howling in pain. I think I looked weird for weeks after, wide-eyed and all, as Winry calmly helped her with rehabilitation.

Al and I really knew she was strong before that, but her helping hold Den down, then helping her walk again-- that dog was as much of the family as anyone... That was just more proof of how great she was.

I was there at that crucial moment that we knew Den was done with rehab. Obviously, by now, you knew what happened, with my horrible tendency to cause these events..

The dog freaking _glomped_ me again. Winry smiled, though, and I suppose I really thought everything was fine again. I realized something at that moment -- I had said that Winry was calmly helping Den through rehab, but I hadn't noticed until then that Winry hadn't smiled in all that time.

She's a great person, Winry is. It didn't take glomping dogs for me to figure that much out.


	12. 036 Until We Meet Again

Hundred Themes EdWin - 036

**Until we meet again**

**

* * *

  
**

Edward looked wistfully up at sky. He could remember her face back then, those few, precious moments when he'd gone back to Amestris. She seemed the same, yet different, and her eyes were like they were accepting whilst attempting to understand.

He felt like crying.

He missed her; he missed her so much, and he knew she probably felt the same.

His heart made the odd twitchy feeling that hurt hollowly, and for some reason, it hurt more than the automail.

He looked at his arm. She'd made him a new one in his absence, one after two long years where anything could have happened, and she was ready when the rocket found its way into Amestris. Her measurements were accurate, and he wondered how many times she'd had to remake it to keep up with her calculations.

He realized that despite his running away from the fact, his arm and leg was as much hers as it was his.

He'd told Rose that she had two perfectly good feet and that she should get up and use them, but the funny thing was that the only reason he could stand on his own feet was because she'd given him a new chance to.

Al looked at his brother. It was obvious who he was thinking of.

"Brother," Al told his older brother softly. "You can say it out loud, okay? 'Until we meet again'."

"Will we, Al?" Ed asked, looking listless. He looked lost, and Al just knew he had to really talk to Winry. "Do you really think we'll see the Winry we know again?"

"We will meet her," Al whispered. "We'll see her again. I know it."

Ed gave his brother a wry smile. "You know just what to say to keep me going, huh, Al?"

Alphonse returned the smile. "Someone has to. And besides, Winry and Granny and everyone's waiting for us. I'll bet -he- is, too."

Ed sighed. It had been unbelievably cruel to let Roy Mustang effectively destroy all chances of them coming back. He was certain Roy had done it, too, but he would likely not forgive himself for it.

For Roy, he thought, that deed was worse than killing defenseless people in the Ishbal Massacre. He hadn't known those people; now, he was breaking Winry once more, taking once again the people precious to her.

"Alright."

Ed's bright golden eyes look muted in this world, Al thought. It made him look older. "Yes, brother?"

Ed turned his gaze back outside. When he looked at the sky, sometimes he could pretend he was home. "Alright," he repeated, his eyes seeming to glow like burnished gold with a promise.

"Until we meet again, Winry. We promise._ I _promise."

* * *

Winry stared long-sufferingly at the sky. Once again, he was gone. Turning away, she felt the breeze whisper.

They'llcomesoonthey'llcomethroughrainandhellandfireandbrimstoneandstormsandchallengesandsufferingsnomatterwhatbecausethey'llreturnhomefinallyfinallyatlast.

Winry felt a ghost of a smile flit across her face. About time, she thought.

"Until we meet again, Ed, Al. I'll be waiting for you. Ed... you better be fine when you get back here. No more missing limbs, you hear me?"

It was all Winry could do to not-cry.

They'll be home. Someday. She knew it.


	13. 007 It's Kind of a Fight

Hundred Themes EdWin - 007

**It's kind of a fight...**

**

* * *

  
**

"Winry," he greeted, smiling impudently despite the fact that his arm was little more than very expensive scrap metal.

He could see the proverbial flames in her eyes, the thunderous expression of her face that befitted a true tempest.

Before Winry could truly spit fire, and before the vicinity could be covered in blood, he shoved the small package towards her, already knowing the drastic change in expression that would commence.

It was odd, Al always thought, how Winry and his brother could make all this seem normal.

It was like an extreme courting ritual.

Al sighed, the sound seeming strange coming from a hollow suit of armor. "I'll go greet Granny Pinako," he said, before inching away.

Coming home was always sort of, kind of a fight. Mostly because Winry was as scary as hell and Ed was at a disadvantage considering he usually showed up without either an arm or a leg. Or without both.

And it was also a kind of a fight that shook the house to it's very foundations and had neighbors making for their cellars slash storm shelters, a la the Wizard of Oz.

So, Ed and Al had decided to... invest. In other words, getting something to make Winry curb her wrath before she unleashed it.

Thus the earrings.

Little did they know how much the earrings meant to Winry, making her get a total of exactly five more piercings before they were the wiser.

Leading to another sort-of fight.

It was kind of a fight because they were showing violence.

It was kind of not a fight because they both cared, and because its hidden meaning was less of a fight than it showed.

* * *

Alphonse Elric winced as fury-filled words echoed in the house. It was so loud, Ed hadn't noticed the kitten hidden in his armor.

"It's all right," he told the small, frightened animal as he brought it out for some air. "They actually really do love each other."

The kitten meowed incredulously.

Al smiled. "Yeah, they do. I think they'd be married and all eventually."

The kitten cocked its head, mewling what seemed to be a question.

Al tilted his head. "Is it that hard to believe? I mean, they've always been close like that-- and Brother really loves her, I know that... And I think Winry loves him back."

Deciding it wasn't going to waste time attempting to understand humans' petty squabbles and love affairs, the kitten meowed, padded around for a comfortable spot, and went to sleep.

Al watched it, then turned to listen to the sounds of chaos, which had toned down.

"... When they do get married, it's going to be another kind of a fight, won't it?" he asked himself.


	14. 055 Diffused Reflection

Hundred Themes EdWin - 055

**Diffused reflection**

Winry looked at the clear water of a stream. This stream was close to home for her. She'd spent a lot of time here with Ed and Al, many times when they were young...

Curiously, she could almost see the little children they once were; Ed running around with Al, and she giggling at the two.

She looked up at the sky. There were no streams for them now, they were off somewhere. Again.

She turned her gaze back at the stream.

* * *

"Hey, gerroff! Al!" a disgruntled Ed yelled irritably, trying to shake his brother off.

He failed miserably, due to the simple fact that Al anchored himself well, all but biting Ed to stay in place.

"Al! Hey! No biting! Geez... You're like a leech!"

Winry giggled, and Ed turned an appealing look at her.

"Winry... Please... GET HIM OFF OF ME!"

* * *

The scene blurred, and she could see her reflection briefly before it formed something else entirely.

* * *

It was a different scene. It was her, looking much older than then, a bit older than now. She had two children clinging to her long skirt.

She backtracked. A long skirt? Her? Winry Rockbell?

It was a dress much like what Trisha wore. She had on an apron, though she had gloves and a wrench in the apron pocket.

Wait. Children?

Children they were, and the boy reminded her of Ed. One was a girl, and she looked so much like Winry that Winry was shocked to realize that the mother really was her. And the children's father was...

The miniature version of Winry tugged on her skirt. "Mommy... Where's Daddy?"

The scene was so heartbreakingly familiar that Winry almost cried.

Mini-Ed's face turned dark while the older Winry's face crumpled.

"It's okay, children..." she soothed the children wearily.

* * *

Blinking rapidly, Winry stared at the clear water. All she could see was her diffused reflection.

That was a dream, she thought, ignoring how her vision was blurring. She must have been dreaming. That had to be it. No worries.

A droplet of salt-water fell into the stream. The reflection distorted. By the time she could see her face again, she was smiling through her tears.

If she did marry Ed, he would come home to her, to them.

She was sure of it.


	15. 076 Telephone

Hundred Themes EdWin - 076

**Telephone**

The first time Ed called home, it was Winry who picked up at the other end. Her greeting was cheerful.

"What took you so long?" she had asked.

It was a very abrupt call to tell her that they were coming home soon that ended about ten seconds later when Ed had brusquely hung up.

When they arrived, the brothers torched their house.

Twelve year old Winry was suitably irritated -- she'd been the one to clean it in their absence.

* * *

Over the years, Winry had learned to be very, very irritated when they called home.

With good reason, as the only times they ever did call was when his automail was broken.

That was the one thing he couldn't hide from her, after all, and oftentimes she started planning a new, more durable design as soon as she fit a new set on him.

So imagine her surprise when he finally did call - and not because her newest-new model had been turned into scrap.

* * *

The telephone was used only, and only when they were desperate. This was an unspoken rule.

Maybe not quite because they didn't have time, but mostly because they didn't feel the need to report to anyone the precariousness or the danger of their position.

This was different, because the one in the most danger was not them.

That was why they were cramming themselves into a tiny, cramped phonebooth.

* * *

Once, Ed had used a telephone to throw Winry a surprise birthday party. "It's because," he told her afterwards, "you've always done so much for us."

It had been nice, she always reflected. But she always hated the execution of his plan.

He'd had First Lieutenant Riza Hawkeye call, telling her that her presence was needed in Central.

Immediately.

By the time she arrived, she was seriously sleep-deprived, a bit cranky, and a great deal worried.

Gracia met her at the station, Elysia in tow. Winry was duly informed that Miss Hawkeye's superior, Roy Mustang, was the one who had the answers.

She had busted into Roy Mustang's office, tools in hand, wrenching guards that had the nerve to attack her.

Really, the nerve.

All she was doing was breaking into a heavily guarded military stronghold in broad daylight. She had a mission, and objectives.

None of them were particularly fatal for the higher-ups... unless Ed and Al were involved in something they'd really rather they weren't. Something she'd rather they weren't.

* * *

When Winry had opened the door, Gracia had managed to arrive before she did. She must have known the way.

Elysia walked up to her cheerfully. "Congratulations congratulations congratulations congratulations!"

Winry smiled, realizing that everyone she knew in the military was there, ranged in the room.

Ed was standing in the center of it all, Al behind him.

The jerk was grinning, she registered. She stomped over to him and shook him.

"Edward!" she yelled. "You are never... NEVER going to do that to me ever again. You are never going to scare me... I thought something happened to you!" she turned her furious gaze to Al. "Why didn't you stop him?"

The younger Elric apologized profusely. "I'm sorry, Winry... but Brother had a good reason this time."

"And that would be...?" she asked tartly.

When Ed failed to respond, she eyed him irritably.

"Don't make me call you sh--"

"It's because," he told her sullenly, "you've always done so much for us."

Winry smiled. Edward cared, and for now, in that moment, all was right with the world.


	16. 091 Control

Hundred Themes EdWin - 091

**Control**

**

* * *

  
**

From the moment Winry first works out the concept of a new automail design, she is always changing it.

It must be of this material. No, this. Having a high-carbon content is necessary to make it durable. There is a new experimental alloy that involves mixing a certain compound to make it stronger. Whatever the ending is, that means telling Ed the exact composition. He needs to know exactly what they are, after all. And alchemist was supposed to understand, break down, and build up.

It must be as light as she can make it without sacrificing or compromising durability.

It must have this shape. No, a cover plate of this shape and size is better the way Ed bashes it around and transmutes it into some humongous blade and waves it around.

These screws must be so, and this size screw must be for the joints, this for the palm, and this must be for holding them together. They musn't get mixed up or forgotten.

Not a single part should be even a quarter of a millimeter off the intended size. The weight must be balanced, so Ed can fight properly.

Label each screw, each bolt, each plate, each tiny wire and every single part, no matter how insignificant.

The plans for the new limbs litter the work room, colored ink overlapping previous markings, hurried notes scribbled, scratched out and rewritten.

Now, Winry recopies the plans, painstakingly neat, and then she gets to work.

Each part is drafted, crafted, modified, polished, and connected.

She doesn't know how many times she's gotten up late in the night because she remembered one part that needed to be fixed -then-.

She doesn't know how many replacements and attachments and modifications caused her to create parts over and over again.

She doesn't care.

For her, it doesn't matter that she spends sleepless nights with steel, that she spends hours on fiddly details that other automail mechanics might think insignificant. Her customer was special. He needed the extra attention to his automail the way he beats it up and dents it and still expects it to work fine.

It doesn't matter that so much of her time is spent hunched over a right arm and a left leg.

It doesn't matter, because if every tiny adjustment will help Ed get home, then it is all worth it.

If Ed's automail was the only way she could help him, then so be it.

She'd grasp any chance of control in the situation.


	17. 014 ConfrontationJust Between Us

Hundred Themes EdWin - 014

**Confrontation / Just Between Us**

**

* * *

  
**

One day, Edward Elric, along with Alphonse Elric, snuck away from Resembool to get back to Central.

Later on that same day, Edward Elric received a call from Resembool.

"WHAT THE HELL, YOU MIDGET SUPER-CHIBI SHRIMP! AT LEAST SHOW SOME GRATITUDE AND SAY GOODBYE BEFORE LEAVING YOU ULTRA-TINY MICROSCOPIC PIPSQUEAK WHO IS SO SMALL THAT HE HAS NO WORRIES ABOUT TRANSPORTATION BECAUSE HE CAN HITCH A RIDE ON A FLEA!"

A vein throbbed visibly on Edward's forehead. He brought the phone back to his ear when the shrieking subsided. He was obviously ready with a reply.

"WHAT ARE YOU BLABBERING ABOUT, WINRY? WHO'RE YOU CALLING A... A... I CAN'T BELIEVE THAT YOU WOULD BETRAY ME LIKE THIS!"

Away in Resembool, Winry revealed a smug smile. "It's your own fault, you know," she informed him with a softer voice. "You shouldn't have left without telling us."

Ed grimaced. "I've learned my lesson. Please never do this again."

Winry smirked. "No promises. You didn't promise either."

"Deal," Edward paused. "Um... Winry?"

She tilted her head. "Yeah?"

"This... you know... conversation?"

"Yeah, Ed?"

"Stays just between us, alright?"

"Of course, Ed." She grinned. "I know you have your reputation to think of."

"Thank you," he responded snidely, before hanging up. He glared at the people innocently milling about.

They warily avoided him.

"What?" he demanded, and they surreptitiously looked away and minded their own business.

* * *

Alphonse Elric peeped to see his brother before withdrawing back into his secluded corridor.

It was clever of the bystanders, he thought. They didn't interfere at all, and they acted like they noticed nothing.

Edward was not at all good at keeping his infamous temper in check. He supposed that if Ed thought someone looked at him odd after that conversation, he'd flay them, verbally and physically.

It was a stupid thing to hope than no one heard the conversation-- innocent bystanders heard a good three-quarters of both sides of the phone call.

They could, however, do the general public a favor and pretend to ignore the entire thing ever happened. The furniture would even stay intact.

Translation: they would remain without kitschy embellishments when they got repaired after Ed finally cooled off. If he ever did.

That was the best idea all around.


	18. 100 Well, Let's Hurry Over There

Hundred Themes EdWin - 100

**Well, let's hurry over there**

((I hated CoS. And so I freak myself out by thinking of ideas using that same movie. Maybe it's because I hate it so much that I want to change it, despite my obviously lacking skills at prose. I ignore all OVAs in this one. Yes, especially the one about him turning 100. Besides, how'd he get his pretty, shiny automail in that one without Winry? I think I'm biased, but I don't care. And this is very very short, and I'm sorry. But oh well))

* * *

Ed watched Al. Al watched Ed.

It had been two long years, and they'd caught up on the news in that time. Here, there.

"You miss her."

It wasn't a question. Al didn't mean it as one.

"... Yeah, I do."

_What of it? It's not like it would change anything._

"Well, let's hurry over there, then." Al smiled at him.

"Can we, Al?" They'd been chasing one small lead after another in their free time, after all.

They were busy tracking down scientists and saving the world (in secret) by trying to eliminate the damn uranium bomb. It was frustrating. Insane.

Sometimes when Ed went to sleep at night, he felt like they'd exhausted the possibilities. Like it was all pointless, all for nothing.

Al nodded decisively. "Brother, Winry misses you. She really does. A lot. I'd been traveling a lot during those two years, but even I could tell. And you miss her. I've seen -_you_- moping around these past two years to know you love her."

Ed sighed, heavily. "But even wishing, hoping for the impossible won't make it possible."

"You say it's impossible? I don't think so."

Ed let a small smirk flit across his face as he realized what Al meant. "Oh really?"

"Yeah." Al smiled brightly. Brother was back.

"Let's go then, Al. Let's go home."

Because home is where the heart is, and the Elric brothers knew without a doubt that their hearts were in Resembool, their home.


	19. 096 Secret

Hundred Themes EdWin - 096

**Secret**

Little Winry giggled softly to herself. Ed and Al watched her, bewildered.

"Why are you laughing, Winry?" the younger Elric asked, eyes wide with curiosity.

She grinned, a large smile that threatened to engulf her entire face. "It's a secret," she said teasingly. "So I can't tell."

The two brothers shared a tired, bewildered look.

Girls.

* * *

"Winry?"

"Yep?"

"What's your secret?"

She smiled. "Not telling."

"Aw, come on."

"Nope!"

* * *

Girls were a mystery, eleven-year-old Edward Elric decided, kicking a stone and watching it skip forward.

They obviously had to belong to a completely different species.

In fact, just today, Winry had decided to kick Ed and Al out of her house. They were just visiting...

She'd just gone to the bathroom, then she'd shrieked. Loudly.

Granny Pinako had hurried there, informing the boys that they should probably leave. They were gaping in the general direction of the toilets. Moments later, they heard Winry yell at them, very loudly, to get out.

They complied, a bit dazed.

They figured out what happened after the Talk, several months later.

But aside from that, she STILL wouldn't tell him what that secret from long ago was!

Not fair.

* * *

"Hey, Winry?" Ed asked as Winry worked on his automail. It had been over five years since he'd last asked. Maybe she'd tell him this time.

"Mmhm?" she blinked at him owlishly, bright sapphire eyes considering him.

"What was that secret you didn't tell us before?"

"If it told you, it wouldn't be a secret," she said reasonably as she promptly looked down and set down her wrench in favor of a screwdriver.

Ed groaned.

Winry looked at him before twisting a screw in with unusual vigor.

Ed grimaced.

* * *

As Ed and Al walked off into the distance, the short almost-man and a large, hulking suit of armor, Winry watched them wistfully.

"My secret..." she mused thoughtfully. "I haven't thought about that a while."

_Was it that important to you, that you never forgot it?_

* * *

'_Winry, always remember that Ed and Al may not always be around for you, just like me and your father. But even so, just remember they'll always care for you. Always and forever. Your father and I will always love you wherever we are, okay?'_


	20. 034 It's Not Anxiety

Hundred Themes EdWin - 034

**'It's not anxiety'**

You totally cannot blame me for the tora-uma thing. Blame Ouran.

Many thanks to Shingmei for pointing out that yes, I got the chapters mixed up. Again.

* * *

When Winry was in labor with their second child, Edward did not do much better than the first time.

"Winry... Winry, Winry, Winry, Winry..." he paced the waiting room floor frantically, scuffing the polished surface. "Winry..."

"Brother," a voice piped up behind him.

He continued pacing, not seeming to have heard.

"Brother."

No response, aside from Edward's mumbling rapidly turning incoherent.

"Brother!" Al finally yelled, sticking his foot out and cringing as Ed tripped over it and hit the floor.

He seemed to not see - anything. He stayed on the ground, muttering something about cheese and sapphires and death.

Al knelt beside him. "Brother... Winry's fine. She's strong, and she did survive your first child."

Ed's lips moved, but Al couldn't hear what he said. He moved his ear closer, a bit gingerly. Ed might bite. "Winry, Winry, Winry, Winry..."

Al picked up the phone.

* * *

"Yes? Pinako Rockbell speaking."

"Granny? I think Ed's having an anxiety attack."

"It's not anxiety," Ed complained from the floor. "It isn't."

Al sighed. "He's having a panic attack, Granny."

"Get someone to knock him out, there's a good boy, Alphonse."

"But Granny!" Al exclaimed, horrified. "I can't do that!"

"He'll knock himself out this way sooner or later," Pinako pointed out reasonably. "Winry would understand that Ed's a bit... excitable. He'd as well break something or disturb people if this goes on."

Al sighed.

It was so tempting for the very reason that it was all too true.

* * *

When Winry woke up, she was mostly curious as to what had happened to Ed.

She was surprised by the sight of him grumpily keeping watch over her.

"Ed?" she rasped, and he pushed the glass of water towards her with his flesh arm grumpily.

"Hey."

She raised a skeptic eyebrow. "Don't 'hey' me, Ed. What happened while I was out?"

"I watched you, for -hours-," he answered. "They knocked me out for about five minutes and and detached the automail in my arm. 's gonna be a bitch to get back on... and -ouch-."

Winry glared at him. "Is that quite -all- you have to say to me, Ed?"

He managed to glare briefly before wilting. "I was going to say they tied me up to the bed and--"

"He was having an anxiety attack, Winry," Al informed her, popping his head into the room before promptly skipping off.

"WAS NOT!" Ed yelled after his brother frantically. "It wasn't anxiety. It isn't..."

"It's okay," Winry soothed. "It's fine. Breathe, Ed."

When he'd calmed down, he said in a whisper as he stared at his bedsheets and pointedly not at her, "It's just... you wouldn't like it if I cried or was worried, would you?"

Winry felt a small smile grow and spread across her face. "Don't worry, Ed. It's kind of cute how you worry for me. It's a bit strange having to wait for someone like you, isn't it?"

"Huh?" he asked, drowsy. Winry would bet that he clung to every shred of consciousness after being knocked out and tied to the bed.

"It's you," she explained. "You like -doing- something. You're not used to having to stay still, wait, and hope for the best. You don't like having no control of the situation."

He grunted. "I don't see how you can wait for us all the time."

"That's why I do all I can," she said simply.

"Brother! Winry!" Al called, cheerfully entering the room.

He beckoned people into the room, and Granny Pinako entered, with Den in tow and holding their one-year-old son, Jon Elric.

Then, various military personnel filed into the room, beaming widely. Armstrong sparkled. Black Hayate wagged his tail beside his mistress, standing beside the Führer.

"Skipping work again, Sir?" Ed greeted mockingly.

"I'll let you go because you're so small and defenseless right now tied up in your bed."

"WHO'RE YOU CALLING SUCH A TINY SHRIMPY MIDGET THAT HE DOESN'T NEED TO STRAIN HIS EYES TO LOOK THROUGH TINY CRACKS IN THE WALL BECAUSE HE CAN EXPLORE THE LONG WINDING PATHS ON HIS OWN GIVEN A FEW DECADES OR SO?!"

"Ed, aren't you, um, forgetting something?" Al asked.

The personnel let out a hearty chuckle as a blushing Ed suddenly turned his gaze back at the door, where Jean Havoc entered in a wheelchair. Behind him, a nurse had a blanket-wrapped bundle.

"It's a girl," the lady announced, and Ed would have flopped back down on the bed if he were able to do much more than roll over.

So much could happen so fast, he thought. Nine months of a pregnant Winry to a very pregnant Winry was all gone.

Thank goodness.

* * *

"Mom! Dad! Look, she was so TINY!"

"So were you, you midget," Ed said fondly, rubbing his son's head as he glanced at the photo album.

"You can't call me that, Daddy. You'll tora-uma-tize me."

"Smart kid," Ed smiled. "It's traumatize."

"That's what I said."

"Hey, protect your sister, okay?"

"Of course I will!"

"No matter what?"

"With my life!"

"You're a good kid," Ed said softly. "Never lose sight of your beliefs, and understand the consequences of what you do."

"I will."

"It's a man to man promise, huh?"

"Yep!"

"Ed? Jon? Dinner!"

"Now, let's get back to your Mom and eat apple pie!"

"After you drink your milk, Dad?"

"Oh, shut up."

"You're not supposed to say that!"

"You'll stop me, pipsqueak?" As his son grumbled, Ed laughed. It felt good to call someone short.

Besides, Jon would grow tall one day. Tall and strong. Like his dad.


	21. 048 Smiling Face

Hundred Themes EdWin - 048

**Smiling face**

When Winry operated on Ed's limbs the first time, she was scared.

Ed was haunted by his fears and he was crying and regretful and _oh-my-god _he was in so much pain. She wiped away sweat from time to time, and when she looked again, glistening droplets were forming on his skin once more, taunting her.

When he was asleep, restless and still in pain, she wanted to touch him. Partly to try comforting him and partly to comfort her.

It was a bit selfish, but she needed to know without-a-doubt that he was fine.

She wondered if she'd ever see his smiling face again.

* * *

When she finally dozed off, lightly and restlessly, she dreamt.

It wasn't really a dream-- more of a nightmare. In fact, it was the kind of nightmare that made you want to scream and _get out now_. Wake and just escape it.

The dream was screams and terror and pain and infinite remorse. It was painful holding back the tears when she wanted to just -scream-.

She breathed raggedly, gathering the shreds of calmness as if things would ever go back to normal.

* * *

She slept at his bedside. As restless as him, having nursed him over the course of the night.

He's quieted down when she'd stayed and talked to him. She liked to think it was because she was Winry and not only because she stayed for him.

But it was fine if he didn't think that, she thought, so at the break of dawn and she woke up, she stood up, and silently she replaced the rag on his forehead and brushed strands of matted golden hair away from his face.

Then she left closing the door softly-- and she didn't hear Ed's voice hoarsely (but audibly, if barely so) calling out her name, "Winry."

And she didn't see the weak _(but present) _smile on his face as he dreamed.

"Winry."


	22. 083 With Three Years' Eyes

Hundred Themes EdWin - 083

**With three years' eyes**

**

* * *

  
**

When she was eleven, she'd wondered why Ed wanted automail so bad, but she thought it might have been because of the military man who came.

The woman who came with him was nice for a soldier, she thought. Even if she killed, she didn't look like she liked it.

Just... tired.

But determined. Still. Despite all that Winry was certain the pretty blonde woman went through.

She wanted to be like that.

* * *

Three years have passed and Ed didn't really come home often. He hardly lingered over a day if his automail was fixed and in top condition. He saw no point.

She wasn't about to tell him to stay when he had things to do. He had a dream...

She wiped her face after splashing it with cold water. She looked at her reflection.

Three pairs of silver earrings glinted in the sparse light from outside. Studs and hoops, gifts from Ed until he realized she never switched them, only pierced her ears more to make room for additions.

At first, her earring was a symbol of her resolve to be strong. Just like Riza Hawkeye. Now... Now she didn't really know anymore.

She was happy Ed and Al thought of her, though she had the sneaking suspicion in was to prevent her wrath when she saw him minus half his leg and three quarters of his arm.

Fifteen years since the day she was born and she wondered sometimes if she'd forever be like this. She tucked a few loose strands of hair behund her ear and turned away from the mirror.

"Winry! You have a visitor!" Granny's voice filtered through the closed bathroom door and she turned a brief glance at the mirror to paste a smile on.

"Coming!" she called, and hurried her way out.

* * *

Three years since they left. Has it really been that long? Every time she saw Ed and Al, she could see new scratches in Al's armor and battered automail from Ed.

When she looked at the rest of Ed's body, she saw half-healed cuts and scars. She saw bruises the multicolor of sunrise and she saw the guilty look in Ed's eyes when she looked at him accusingly.

Three years, three years of seeing these things and doing absolutely nothing.

Three years. Watch. Wait.

Maybe she'd be able to do something and help. Soon. Maybe.

* * *

The visitor had been Ed. Retuning, he called it. Servicing. She called it practically CPR on the mechanical limbs.

"You idiot," she had shrieked, accompanying the solid thwap of wrench against flesh.

"You might hit the automail!" he'd complained as he rubbed the sore spot on his head.

"As if I'd hit my precious babies," she'd replied, following another hit to Ed's abdomen.

"What about MY welfare?" he protested as he brought up both automail arm and leg to block her.

"Ha, your welfare needs no concern if you abuse the automail I make for you like this. This? This is less than the battering my babies have taken for you!"

* * *

She should have known. Always, always it was like this. Didn't he know that automail wasn't made to be pretty? Automail was made to WORK, and poor work it could do when it was half a wire from breaking down completely.

He had stared at her a bit before he left and she couldn't read his gaze. She could sense some sort of guilt in Al, but it seemed as unfounded as always.

Neither of the brothers gave a hint more than that, but she supposed they were off on another journey again.

"Goodbye," she whispered, more to herself than them. "See you soon, safe."

Maybe she'd be able to do more than this one day, but for now, she'll be fine watching and waiting and hoping they'll return to her safe and whole.

Though, she thinks as she turns her attention to the plans of Ed's newest-new automail design (which was slightly lighter and hopefully more durable but based on how his last one was wrecked, it was more of bladed things he was against, though he definitely faced blunt metal), the chances of her best work lasting a whole year is very slim.


	23. 056 No Speaking

Hundred Themes EdWin - 056

**No speaking**

**

* * *

  
**

The longest time Edward and Winry went without talking to each other, before he had left Resembool with Al and before he looked for an alchemy teacher in Izumi, was one week. Well, aside from before they'd learned to talk.

They'd been six. Winry had thrown a wrench at Ed's head. He'd passed out.

* * *

**Day One**

Pinako and Trisha spoke in hushed tones. Edward was still unconscious, and Winry had locked herself into her room.

Al was panicking in between the two houses, not quite sure where to go.

He'd been drifting off towards Ed last they had checked, just to make sure Al wasn't going to have an... accident. They had quite enough on their plates.

"There's no change then?"

"No, unfortunately... With Winry...?"

"No. She's a stubborn child."

Trisha smiled. "She really is."

Pinako nodded briskly. "She's a Rockbell, that one. Yours... Ed's about as stubborn, don't you think?"

"More." Trisha's smile turned sad. "He's so much like his father it scares me sometimes."

Pinako's response took a while in coming. "He loves all of you. You know that, right Trisha?"

Her smile was lonely. "I do. I'm not sure about Ed the way he is."

* * *

**Day Two**

Edward Elric groaned as he blinked bleary eyes to see the sun. "Too... bright... Al? Mom?"

"Brother!" Al's delighted voice was strident. "Mom, he's awake!"

Trisha hurried to close the windows. "There. Al, try to not be so loud. Ed, are you okay?"

Ed groaned. "Winry hit me so hard..."

* * *

"No change?"

"Still sulking."

"He's awake, but..."

"Stubborn little brats."

* * *

**Day Three**

Winry sulked in her room. It was a pattern. Look up, look down. Out the window, towards the door. Her hands, the wrench in the corner of the room. Repeat.

Ignore Granny when she tries to call her down every few minutes.

* * *

"She's hardly eating."

"He's ignoring her existence at all costs in front of me, but he's worried."

"Ah, stubborn little brats."

* * *

**Day Four**

"Mom?"

"Yes, Edward?"

"Was Winry sorry?"

"Of course."

"Was she really?"

"Mmhm."

"Then why hasn't she come?"

"... She doesn't want to talk to anyone, Ed. Not to Granny, not to Al. Not to me."

* * *

"He asked what happened to her."

"No change on my front."

"They're such... willful children, aren't they?"

"Keep it simple. They're stubborn brats, through and through."

* * *

**Day Five**

Al had come, Granny called even more. She didn't want to come down, come out of her room, or come out to play.

Life sucked.

* * *

"It's getting bad."

"Oh dear."

"Stubborn, stubborn, stubborn little brats."

* * *

**Day Six**

"If she's not saying sorry to my face, I don't see the point of going."

"Brother..."

"She didn't even say sorry to you, Al. Or mom. Not even to Granny."

"But..."

"But nothing. If she's not saying sorry, then I won't forgive her!"

* * *

"That's it."

"What?"

"Those two brats are way out of line now. This has to stop."

"But..."

"Al's working himself into a tizzy, Trisha."

"But..."

"He'll knock himself out in worry."

"Oh alright..."

* * *

**Day Seven**

"Winry?"

No answer.

"Winry. Answer the door. I'll pick the lock," Pinako threatened.

The click of the door opening and a sapphire-bright eye was visible peering through the narrow opening.

"Winry, come out," Pinako sighed. The girl turned around and flopped on her bed, leaving the door ajar.

"No."

With a strength that led Pinako to be feared in Rush Valley, she -made- the little Rockbell get up and out of the house.

* * *

"Brother?"

"No."

"Nii-san?"

"No."

"Sister?" Al ventured.

"What the -hell-?" Ed replied.

"Don't use that language, Brother." He paused, before adding, "Mom's calling.

And so Edward Elric all but pranced to his doom. As he neared the kitchen, he met an absolutely VICIOUS Pinako.

* * *

By bedtime, both were talking like the week never happened. Al was relieved and Tricia and Pinako peeked from the kitchen, cooing at the contrite children and their adorableness.

"I..." was the first letter the two exchanged. Both said it at the same time. Winry stopped and motioned Ed to continue.

"I..." Ed gulped and tried again, his voice freezing on the first letter. "I..."

"You... what?" Winry asked him

"I... You go first."

"Nope. I said you go first."

"I... I'msorryaboutlastweek."

"What?"

"I'm. Sorry," he managed, scowling.

Winry hugged him. "I'm sorry! I shouldn't have hit you."

"Can't... breathe," Ed gasped, fingers scrabbling helplessly over Winry's hold on his neck. "Heeelp?" he pleaded, voice cracking hoarsely on the last note.

She let him go. "Better?" she asked after he had taken a few very slow deep breaths.

He breathed in deeply, as if making a point. "Better," he managed to say.

And he was, truly.


	24. 022 Unaccustomed Things

For my birthday, I did my best to update both Memories and Moments in Time. Reviews would make me very happy. Thanks~

* * *

Hundred Themes EdWin - 022

**Unaccustomed things**

**

* * *

**

If there was something Winry Rockbell was not accustomed to, it was a dress.

Sure she wore them when she was little, but that was years ago and the light, comfortable sundresses were a _very_ far stretch from the lacy, poofy abomination with matching heels she was certain must be a death trap from hell that she was wearing right now.

She was surprised that people were actually calling the abominations _formal wear_.

Perhaps it wouldn't be so bad if she would be wearing one in her coffin, so she wouldn't have to actually walk in the thing.

Stupid, really, she thought as she stared at the reflection on the glass. A pale version of herself bedecked in a long rich blue gown with trimming done in white lace and tiny, tiny crystal blue beading stared back, and she thought it didn't suit her at all. The dress was pretty, but too elegant for her to feel comfortable. The way it exposed her back made her feel conscious even though she often worked in what she did.

The silk whispered when she moved, and the beading winked as it caught the light.

She took a deep breath before stepping outside, almost slipping twice on the polished floor due to her twice-curst heels. She looked up as she placed a hand on the wall to steady herself. Ed.

He looked handsome in formal clothes, she thought. Not at all obvious that he was sweltering under all the stiff clothing, save for the fact that he was fanning himself with his free hand. The other was attached to the arm outstretched towards her.

He wasn't looking at her directly-- he was looking at her from the corner of his eye.

"Let's go," he said simply, voice gruff with something she couldn't quite identify.

She mustered the strength to smile as she took his arm—it was the flesh arm, she noticed—and it was gloved. They walked slightly awkwardly, but it was comfortable to be in his presence.

"...You look pretty," he said, still not facing her but she could see a glint of the bright gold of his eyes.

"Thank you," she beamed at him sunnily. "So do you."

And she waited.

He let it go for all of three-quarters of a second.

"What?" he squawked incredulously, before narrowing his eyes at her and finally facing her full on, with slitted pupils. The irises were a bright, almost luminous gold in the dim light.

Winry ignored the pain of her thrice-curst heels and let go of Ed's arm to push the door open and totter into the party.

Ed stared after her darkly, glowering.

* * *

"Winry-chan?"

She turned automatically to the female voice. It was deep, but kind. "Yes?"

"Edward-kun is..." the last syllable trailed off in a querulous pitch.

Winry smiled dazzlingly at Riza, who was dressed in a deep burgundy dress that covered all of her back and emphasized the older woman's eyes to the point of almost glowing. "He's perfectly fine."

"FULLMETAL, JUST _WHAT_ ARE YOU _DOING_ WITH THE _**ALCOHOLIC**__ PUNCH_?!"

It wasn't a children's party, she knew that. Seasoned veteran soldiers, most of them were, and aside from Ed (and herself) they were all above the drinking age.

That said, there was supposed to be non-alcoholic drinks in the form of soda or juice accessible to Ed— in fact, Riza was nursing her own cup of cooled fruit juice.

... So why was Ed going for the drinks he knew were spiked?

Riza just stared at the sight of her superior tried to keep the short alchemist from downing all the spiked punch-- he seemed to have transmuted the punch bowl (a simple enough thing in glass) into a rather large elaborately-designed goblet and was drinking from it. Winry sighed, exasperated.

"Maybe he isn't so fine."

"FULLMETAL, YOU CAN'T JUST _SPEAR A __**WHOLE TURKEY**__ ON A __**FORK**__ AND EAT IT THAT WAY_!"

Winry received a pointed look from Riza.

"Alright, alright," she said before moving off, skirting around large groups of soldiers gathered together as she tried to ignore the pain in her feet. "I'm talking to him."

* * *

Edward Elric was in a mood best described as 'foul'.

If he were one of the cats Alphonse loved to take care of so much, he would be spitting mad, hissing, back arched and hackles raised. Ready to scratch at the person who deigned it necessary to converse with a homicidal feline.

Of course, Ed was not a cat, however much Al would wish (if he were here, he would point out very accurately that a cat would be far easier to deal with... But he wasn't-- he was blissfully relaxing in a heavenly place where formal wear was not necessary).

And so he didn't have many obvious external signs of being royally pissed. (Unless you count the way he ate-- as if he were a savage wolf chomping at his helpless prey-- or drank-- like a bloodthisty cannibal drinking blood. No, really. As in really-really.)

She inhaled deeply. She wasn't used to this, too. "Hey, Ed."

* * *

Okay, so it was slightly more than that, what happened, that is. Whatever the case was, Edward and Winry did a good deal more things they weren't accustomed to that night.

Those things involved slowdancing, fastdancing and nursing blistered feet, all of which done embarrassingly in public to the good-natured humor of the other soldiers.

Winry was vaguely irritated that she's had double the blistered feet to deal with than Ed did, but she didn't let it spoil her mood.

_But_, Winry thought as she adjusted her blankets as she prepared to sleep that night (morning? She wasn't sure anymore,) and as she remembered the protective feel of Ed's flesh arm over her shoulders and the way his eyes glowed while dancing, _it had been fun._


	25. 069 Not Know

This was supposed to be up forever ago, and I'll try to keep writing when I could because though FMA is over, its spirit won't die so easily. Anyhow. This Hundred Themes isn't over, and neither is the Royai one. I took some time off in my senior high school year and hadn't gotten around to posting again til now, when I started college. I can't promise frequent updates, but I'll keep writing. FMA is one of my deepest fandoms.

* * *

Hundred Themes EdWin - 069

**Not know**

* * *

Ed hated to not know. Very simply, it was unpleasant to have people who seem like they know so much better than you. He hated to be placed in a position where there was nothing he knew about getting out well and fine and whole.

He hated uncertainties, and he saw that as an alchemist, he could, in effect, take it as responsibility to _overcome_ the unknown and_ damnitall_ he'd do just that.

The Truth.

* * *

Even as a child, all chubby limbs and impetuous actions, he's hated not knowing. Winry did, too, he remembered. After all, they'd both fallen out of trees for that very reason.

'Mommy, if I go up high enough, will I be able to touch the sky?'

Same week. Both recieved a lovely bump on opposite sides of their stubborn little heads.

Al, of course, was the sensible one and so he stayed away from tree-climbing altogether and chose to call for help when the two stubborn blondes fell.

* * *

Winry hated not knowing with a distinct passion because it was like the whole world was leaving her behind.

Ed and Al? Those boys were going forward at fantastic speeds, and the world trudged forwards the way it always did and she was going to try keeping up because she never liked being alone.

* * *

"Ed?" her voice was almost whisper soft, slightly muddled with sleep. It was far too early in the morning for him to be skulking about, and Al was nowhere to be seen. Yet skulking about he was when she woke up (she didn't really know why, because she had been up late and she didn't wake up for no reason,) so that left only ome thing that made the remotest amount of sense.

He stopped putting his bright red coat on halfway, not saying anything but he turned halfway to meet her gaze. He was wide awake.

"Where are you going?"

"Not sure." His voice was clear, warm and slightly deeper than she remembered. "Me and Al are heading over to Central to report to the Colonel, but after that we'll be checking something out west. Some shady stuff might be happening, so we'll try sniffing something out."

"Don't get into too much trouble, you hear me Ed?" she said with a semblance of her old sunniness.

"Yeah, yeah," he said, grudgingly as though the words were pulled from reluctant lips. "You're still a crazy woman."

"Damn straight." And then she winked and continued, "Tell me something I don't know," and he was stunned speechless.

* * *

She smiled as she watched his retreating back. "Goodbye," she whispered, half-heartedly hoping it would be heard, and the word seemed to stretch after him, to chase him and convince him to turn around.

He wouldn't, though, not as long as she could see him. She knew that from experience.

Stupid pride.

Her next words though, weren't intended at all to be heard by him because he'd hate to promise something he wasn't sure he could keep. "Come back home safe this time. Please."

The last words she addressed to him for a long while were of the sort that escaped lips thoughtlessly, which if heard would make the speaker squirm uncomfortably because it was far too true to be comfortable.

Because it was so true it was raw and sensitive and almost painful and sometimes it was better at least for the meantime to not know.

"I love you."


End file.
